For kids growing up around West Cornwall the only reason they came to Helston was to visit Flambards or for a can of cider and a scrap on Penrose green on Flora Day .

But for those of us who grew up in the town it was a pretty happy place to spend our formative years.

Many have since flown the nest but anybody who spent time in the market town will no doubt have some memories they hold dear and they will more than likely return each year for the town’s Flora Day celebration or Christmas with their families.

There will be memories aplenty, and some things you can only truly understand if you've lived there...

Here are some memories from growing up in Helston in the 1990s and early 00s...

Helston School

Brewers of Helston sponsor college folders. Head teacher Dennis Johnson receives one of the new folders from Andrew Songhurst, Brewers print manager, who designed the new folders. Pictured LR David Rogers (M.D Brewers), Paul Songhurst (Brewers print manager), students Helen Upperton, Matt Harris, Kate Holland and Chris Suckling with Dennis Johnson (Headmaster)

First there was Dennis Johnson in charge, then there was Dr Pat McGovern.

We managed to scare off hundreds of teachers in our time but who could ever forget Mr Fishwick's deep bellow or Mrs Pascoe's granite block.

Any walk between upper and lower school was seemingly a dice with death as the older kids sought to give you a good 'hedging'.

Lower school may have been falling down, small kids might have been squeezed into lockers but Helston School still has a lot going for it and was the scene of many a happy childhood memory.

Flora Day

Better than Christmas without a doubt, the best day of the year and one which all Helstonians count down to.

However, Flora Days prior to turning 18 were somewhat different.

All the fun kicked off the night before when you'd meet your mates in town and wander down through through Coinagehall Streel as the stalls were being put up, towards the fair.

The £10 notes parents would send us off with were soon in the pockets of the ride operators and if we were lucky, we'd have a goldfish to show for our money.

As a young teen, Flora itself kicked off with watching the 7 o'clock dance before being dragged inside and made to look smart ahead of the children's dance.

While I have to admit that I was forced (see bribed) to dance in my younger school years, dancing in secondary school was actually pretty cool, providing you got to dance with the girl you fancied.

We'd parade through the streets having beaming family members call our names from among the sea of faces.

After the dancing and obligatory photos had finished, the day was our own and it would be spent back at the fair and around the boating lake trying to sneak the odd can of lager on the green and avoiding a beating from the young chavs coming for other towns looking for a brawl.

As we wandered back up through town we gazed longingly at those old enough to drink in the pubs knowing that our time would one day come before we returned home with a pack of chewing gum to mask the subtle hint of lager on our breath.

Shops

Eddy's

Eddys on Meneage Street

This famous Helston department store on Meneage Street closed its doors for last time in March 2007, after nearly 150 years of trading.

It was previously located over on Coinagehall Street, before moving in 1936.

One Helstoner recalled to me he especially remembered the little Aladdin’s cave next door. "Our noses pressed against the glass, yearning to be allowed inside, wishing for just five minutes in there."

Ultimate Video

Ultimate Video on Meneage Street was Helston's most popular video game and movie rental shop. The beginning of the end came in the late 2000s, when owner David Lemon transformed part of the premises into a retro milkshake bar, Shimmy's.

Mr Lemon said the reason for the partial change of use was because of the declining rental market, caused by people increasingly downloading movies. The idea was for the milkshake bar to subsidise the rental side of the business.

Shimmy's now runs as diner Boo Koos.

Helston Arcade

Helston Arcade on Coinagehall Street housed several small businesses, including Andy's Barbers and T and T Games, before closing in the early 2000s. Clothing retailer Peacocks took over the vacant site in 2002 but who can forget being reluctantly dragged there as a child before the tables turned and I found myself hanging out there voluntarily as a young teenager?

Alfie Merritt's and Church Street News

Gone but not forgotten are Merritt's newsagents (especially well used by St Michael's School kids) and Church Street newsagents, a popular stop-off by Helston School students and since converted into flats, one of which occupied by yours truly.

Video Loading

Video Unavailable

Click to playTap to play

The video will start in 8Cancel

Play now

Elams

Now occupied by Mother's, Elams used to sell various tat from its spot on the high street.

Woolies

While the absence of the Woolworths brand is not exactly exclusive to Helston, it was certainly felt as it occupied one of Helston town centre’s largest and most prominent business premises, at the bottom end of Coinagehall Street.

Remember the Pic 'n' mix and the CD charts? I can recall saving up my pocket money to spent on, er, a Vengaboys CD.

Woolworths closed for good in early 2009 with the loss of many jobs. The Original Factory Shop moved in only months later, but closed this year, leaving the site vacant once more.

Gateway and Somerfield

Sadly this shop now stands empty but a variety of supermarkets have in the past occupied the premises.

Pubs, bars and clubs

Although this story is about 'growing up' in Helston, whether you like it or not part and parcel of growing up is trying to blag your way into a pub or club underage.

Whether it was Lady Street, Trelawney's, Big T's or even the Gwealdues Hotel, nothing compares to the rush of finally getting into the venue that for many years you have stared longingly at as you made your way home, wondering just what's inside.

Honourable mention for The Fitz and The Angel when it was cool.

Miscellaneous

Helston Farmers Market volunteers paint up the town's old cattle market: The clean up volunteers

Once upon a time you could read all about it in The Helston Leader and although these days a group of people are working tirelessly to promote Helston Carnival, I remember the days when the carnival and Harvest Fair were almost as big as Flora Day. And don't forget the dog show on the boating lake green.

The swanky new Old Cattle Market building used to be exactly that, a cattle market, full of dangerous yet incredibly appealing apparatus to climb on. It's doors were also a target for a good old game of SPOT for the footballers among us.

Genevieve Brown and Amanda Hull with their Guinea Pigs at the harvest fair pet show

Honourable mention for Thingamajig fun day at the rugby/cricket club in the early 90s.